Recently I have been revising my outgoings on insurances. I have home and contents + car with ASB (IAG).

I got a quote for car trademe just for a laugh which was $40 per month. Now I checked with ASB and that quote is $60. (my laugh from early turned into a bit of confused look). That's $20 per month difference for the same car and the sum insured.

Now I checked CanStarBlue to check the ratings and it looks like AA is the top in both of these fields. I am a AA member so I am leaning towards this.

Had a comparison done by AMI a couple of months back at the Auckland Home Show, they couldn't beat it.

My insurance broker, who looks after our health and life insurance, didn't bother trying to get me comparative quotes for House, Contents and Car Insurance as he said they offer very competitive rates. This was about 4-5 years ago though.

We've had no issues with 2 x car claims and 1 x tenanted house fire claim (although tenant may beg to differ, as AA were seeking damages from tenant for the cost of fire)

However, I note from recent correspondence that they have amended their policy wording and when insurers do that, it usually is not done to make your life better. They used to have "Guaranteed No Claims Bonus For Life" but that has gone now, for example.

Always worth getting a few quotes when these things come up for a renewal. I'd been with AA for contents insurance and Toyota for car insurance for 6 years. Had to make one claim with Toyota from a minor incident and they were good, but thankfully haven't needed to make a contents claim yet. Recently moved my banking to the Westpac government employee package just before both came up for renewal and they gave some quotes (you also get a discount as a government employee). Car worked out about $20 a month cheaper for a higher sum insured, and contents was about the same as AA but also for a higher sum insured. Studied the policy documents and there didn't appear to be significant differences in coverage so decided to take both the Westpac offerings.

State was because of a commercial vehicle at the time. Not keen on them.

AA had a higher value for one of our vehicles but their excess was also way higher.

I also didn't like the house and contents with them much, no free glass and sanitary fixtures for instance.

We've been with AMI the longest and I intend to remain with them.

Had various claims, contents, vehicles, house glass, never had an issue, always prompt and with the vehicle the repair ended up being within $200 of the vehicle value, we thought they'd write it off but no, they fixed it. (happy)

Just make sure you are comparing apples with apples. Just because you are insuring the same item for the same value doesn't mean the insurance policy conditions are the same. The one worth $20 more may actually provide better cover. The devil is in the detail, particularly with insurance policies so do your homework.

I have been with AMI for longer than I care to remember. I check annually including with AA and can't find a better policy/value. Strangely AA for us is much more expensive, opposite to other posters experiences.

Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

State was because of a commercial vehicle at the time. Not keen on them.

AA had a higher value for one of our vehicles but their excess was also way higher.

I also didn't like the house and contents with them much, no free glass and sanitary fixtures for instance.

We've been with AMI the longest and I intend to remain with them.

Had various claims, contents, vehicles, house glass, never had an issue, always prompt and with the vehicle the repair ended up being within $200 of the vehicle value, we thought they'd write it off but no, they fixed it. (happy)

Excess and free options are surely built into the premium?

Say you had all sorts of cover options. On the surface, option 1 is better than option 2, and 3, but if you look into excess, exceptions, there probably isn't that much in it?

We're with Medical Assurance. IMHO hands down the best insurer to deal with, bar none. Super friendly and helpful, always a pleasure to deal with. They are competitive on cost (though usually not the outright cheapest) but make up for it in not actually making it difficult to lodge claims etc.

But (and there's always a but) you have to apply for membership; membership is restricted to certain professions. They used to be limited to medical professionals, but have since liberalised it a bit.

I went through every insurer policy details and got quotes from the most of them when I got my new car; there are some pretty major differences between the providers and in the end I went with AA (not the cheapest, but one of the cheaper quotes) and thankfully have only had to claim a windscreen repair so far.

We're with Medical Assurance. IMHO hands down the best insurer to deal with, bar none. Super friendly and helpful, always a pleasure to deal with. They are competitive on cost (though usually not the outright cheapest) but make up for it in not actually making it difficult to lodge claims etc.

But (and there's always a but) you have to apply for membership; membership is restricted to certain professions. They used to be limited to medical professionals, but have since liberalised it a bit.

Never heard a bad thing about Medical Assurance.

Friends had a serious house fire and are with them, they have been brilliant. Nothing too much trouble.

I think there is a Farmers Assurance too? I hear they are really good as well.